Ta Mok

Ta Mok (Khmer តា ម៉ុ ក, German Grandfather fist ) is the pseudonym of Chhit Choeun (* 1926, † 21 July 2006 in Phnom Penh), a major figure in the leadership of the Khmer Rouge. His real name is uncertain, some sources give Ek Choeun or Oeung Choeun on.

Life

He participated in the 1940s in the anti - French and later in the anti -Japanese resistance. Originally, he had started a priest teaching in Pali, which he broke in 1964, after he had joined the anti- French movement Khmer Issarak. Soon after, he left Phnom Penh and joined the Khmer Rouge.

Officer of the Khmer Rouges

In the late 1960s he was a general and the Chief Officer of the Khmer Rouge. In 1970, he lost the fight half a leg. It is believed that he directed the massive purges during the short period of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), earning him the nickname " the Butcher " earned. Despite the overthrow of the regime in 1979, Ta Mok remained almost fully controlled by his power and his base in Anlong Veng in the northern areas of the country that still were under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. In 1997, the Khmer Rouge split into several fractions, of which Ta Mok continued to dominate as a Supreme Commander. This year, he overthrew the ailing ex-dictator Pol Pot, introduced him to a Khmer Rouge - people Tribunal and sentenced him to life imprisonment for treason. From this time he was the "Brother No. 1" of the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot died in 1998 under mysterious circumstances in the arrest. A suicide is not excluded, as Ta Mok probably wanted him to surrender to the Americans.

Escape and capture

After Ta Mok faction also broke more and more into himself, he had to flee to Anlong Veng 1998. On 6 March 1999, the Cambodian army Ta Mok took near the border with Vietnam firm and brought him to Phnom Penh, where he and his former companions Kang Kek Leu (fighting name " deuch " ) in the prison for military offenders, T-3 brought. Ta Mok was one of the last leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who were in prison. Others, such as Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, were either already died or joined with the government of Hun Sen immunity agreement, which many allowed to have undisturbed responsible for their past and without for their crimes, leading roles in the new government to play.

Process delays

Although under Cambodian law a prisoner of the process must be made within six months, Ta ​​Mok's detention was extended without trial several times, until 2002 against him on charges of "crimes against humanity ". The planned process for working up the crimes of the Khmer regime of General should play a key role.

End of June 2006, the former military commander of the Khmer Rouge became seriously ill admitted to a hospital. Ta Mok died, according to his lawyer on the morning of 21 July 2006 after a multi-day coma.